The concept of the motion photo was first introduced by Sony via an application called Motion Shot that captured some video before and after a photo was taken. Following Sony’s footsteps, Apple launched Live Photos with the iPhone 6S in 2015. It was an instant hit among users, so it wasn’t long before Google decided to jump on board. Google built the Google Photos feature called Motion Photos for the Pixel 2. The feature has been evolving ever since and we now finally have the ability to export Motion Photos as GIFs.
A motion photo treads the thin line between a photo and video, and technically speaking, it’s neither. The ideal method to save motion photo files should have been .gif, to begin with, and I’m legitimately confused as to why wasn’t it the default format from the beginning. Until now, it could only be imported as a photo or a video, and it gained the ability to be imported as a .gif only now.
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We first saw the feature in action in the beta version of Google Photos 3.15, and today, the feature is live on the non-beta version of the app. You’ll need to be running the latest version of the Google Photos app for the option to show up. Now, when you tap “Export” you’ll see options for video, GIF, and still photo. There’s also a checkbox to keep stabilization, which will slightly trim the content. It can only do so much in the way of stabilizing a horribly shaky photo, so you’re better off clicking a new picture when the original is beyond salvage.
The feature might not mean much but was highly requested by fans. The only discernible use for it might be to create and share .gifs on the go, but don’t we already have apps for that? On the bright side, we’re sure to get a ton of more reaction .gifs for strategic use in comment sections.
Source: 9to5google
